Chapter Seven: Wolf Issues and Awakening
La Push, Washington
September 25, 2006
4:22 a.m.
Sam sighed, staring at the bright orange flames flickering gently in the large brick fireplace.
It had been a week since Bryan and Jose had arranged for a private plane to Washington for Sam, Paul and Bella.
Three days after their arrival, Jacob had come to the house, followed by the rest of the pack and the Elders.
All of them wanted to know if the little girl lying comatose upstairs was really their Bells.
When Sam and Paul had confirmed it, Jacob had practically flown upstairs to Bella's room.
When he'd opened the door and laid eyes on the unconscious child, however, Jacob's wolf had immediately risen to the surface.
Now Jacob was curled up around Bella in wolf form, refusing to let anybody near her.
Whenever somebody would open the door, the large russet wolf would bare its teeth and growl menacingly at them until they left.
Sam yawned tiredly, letting his head fall back against the arm of the couch with a dull thunk.
Jacob's feral overprotectiveness concerning Bella had been going on for the past four days and Sam was beginning to wonder if his fellow shifter would ever return to his human frame of mind.
Jacob's wolf had taken control of the 16 year old's brain for the time being and all anyone could do was pray that Bella woke up soon.
Otherwise, they didn't know what Jacob would do...
September 31, 2006
10:17 p.m.
Bella let out a soft whimper, burrowing deeper into the soft, furry heat that encased her.
She could feel something warm and wet gently laving across her cheek.
Wearily prying her heavy eyelids open, the four year old was immediately met with a pair of glowing yellow orbs staring intensely into her own dark chocolate ones.
The little girl let out a terrified shriek and heard two sets of heavy footsteps pounding up the stairs just a split second before the bedroom door burst open.
Standing in the doorway were two giant men who Bella was sure she'd never met before in her life, their dark brown eyes ringed with yellow and darting rapidly around the room before finally landing on the small girl staring wide-eyed at a large russet wolf.
The two men let out a shaky breath before shaking their heads in exasperation as their golden-tinged eyes slowly returned to normal.
Gently patting the other man's shoulder, the larger man silently turned and left the room, leaving the other one alone with Bella and the strange wolf.
